The Phillies are reportedly not happy with their cross-state rival Pirates.
The Philadelphia Phillies thought they had a new left-hander who would debut in red pinstripes on Thursday — rather than have the previously tabbed probable pitcher Vince Velasquez make his 17th start of the season.
Instead, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded the southpaw, Tyler Anderson, to the Seattle Mariners. Their previously agreed-upon deal with the Phillies fell through due to a medical issue involving one of the two prospects who would have been headed to the National League Central organization — right-handed pitcher Cristian Hernandez.
According to MLB insider Jayson Stark, of The Athletic, the Phillies are “ticked off” that the Pirates dealt the six-year veteran elsewhere.
“ had a major disagreement over the health of pitcher Christian Hernandez,” Stark said Wednesday evening on 97.5 The Fanatic. “The Phillies do not think he’s hurt or has significant issues, but the Pirates raised a red flag. It’s hard to know what happened there.”
Stark continued:
"“I heard the Mariners called the Pirates the minute they heard there was an issue with the Phillies. The Pirates told them we are trying to re-work the deal. They didn’t circle back with the Mariners for four hours, after they couldn’t agree on a different player.”"
Stark went on to acknowledge “conspiracy theories” that Pirates general manager Ben Cherington potentially retaliated against Dave Dombrowski. The two previously worked together in the Boston Red Sox front office, however, the current Phillies President of Baseball Operations pushed Cherington out.
“I’ve check this out thoroughly — with both organizations and from the outside,” Stark said. “Conspiracies are fun, but I don’t think . There’s a scar. I don’t think Ben Cherington forgot what happened in Boston. But, he took a worse deal . Why would anyone do that?”